était fort peu rationnel. C’est le cas de toutes les initiatives de changement impulsées par les « croyances » des dirigeants. Même si les croyances échapent en partie à la rationalité, elles n’en constituent pas moins, dans de nombreaux cas, une incitation forte à changer et peuvent avoir un effet stimulant sur les membres de l’organisation pendant toute la démarche de conduite de changement.
Pour bien diriger le changement, les managers ne doivent pas oublier la consolidation du changement qui n’est pas du tout facile. Une modification de structure de la firme, une réimplantation d’atelier, l’introduction d’un nouveau logiciel..., entraînent à leur tour d’autres changements concernant les procédures de travail, les circuits de décision, les systèmes de rémunération... Tout changement affecte donc les systèmes de gestion, y compris lorsque ceux-ci ne sont pas eux-mêmes l’objet initial de la transformation. Pour des changements de faible importance, la consolidation post-changement peut se limiter aux nécessaires ajustements des instruments de gestion. Mais l’adaptation peut se révéler complexe et imposer une rigueur méthodologique supplémentaire.
Modifier l’instrumentation de gestion est sans doute la phase la plus délicate des changements d’organisation. Tout d’abord parce que les managers y répugnent : toucher aux systèmes de gestion, c’est-à-dire aux instruments permettant de piloter, coordonner et contrôler, c’est toucher au coeur du fonctionnement des organisations. Les changements envisagés sont souvent considérés comme d’ampleur insuffisante pour remettre en cause ces systèmes, et en particulier ceux liés au pilotage stratégique et au contrôle des performances de la firme.
Une autre raison de la difficulté de la consolidation du changement peut provenir de l’absence d’intrument adéquat. Les implications des changements en matière de qualification et de salaire sont parfois estimées insuffisantes par les salariés, pas toujour en raison d’une mauvaise volonté de la direction, mais aussi de l’inadéquation des outils de référence. Les changements donnent alors des résultats décevants parce que les salariés auront le sentiment que leur contribution nouvelle n’est pas crrectement évaluée.
Selon l’ampleur des démarches de changement d’organisation, le problème de la consolidation peut être traité à des degrés divers, pouvant aller d’une simple modification d’indicateurs ou de tableaux de bord jusqu’à la révision de la grille de classification ou la refonte partielle ou totale des systèmes d’information et de gestion.
A minima, l’action sur les instruments de gestion se situe en aval du changement, ne serait-ce que pour s’assurer d’un minimum de cohérence entre les modifications engagées et les outils en place. Mais, pour les changements de plus grande ampleur, la prise en compte du problème devrait intervenir en amont de la démarche, dès la phase de diagnostic. Une réflexion préalable sur les systèmes de gestion, et en particulier les systèmes de prise de décision et les systèmes associés d’information, peut se révéler déterminante parce qu’elle peut éviter certains biais aux différentes phases de la démarche.
Conclusions
La gestion du changement dans les organisations est liée à une multitude de facteurs qui déterminent non seulement la nature et l’ampleur des modifications envisagées, mais aussi la manière dont le processus est
conduit. Il faut souligner le rôle prépondérant du modèle organisationnel de référence et des représentations de la performance chez les managers.
En ce qui concerne l’avenir, il est évident que la conduite des transformations au sein des organisations va être dominée par la gestion des stratégies d’acteurs de plus en plus individualistes et que le retour aux approches technocratiques du changement ne sera pas posible.
Bibliographie
1. Bellier S. – Compétence en action, ed. Iaisons, Paris,2000, pag. 213-221
2. Dupuy F. – Sociologie du changement, pourquoi et comment changer les organisations ?, Dunod, Paris, 2004, pg. 123-215
3. Prax J.Y. – le Guide du knowledge management, Dunod, Paris, 2000, pag. 67-83 4. Segrestin D.- Les chantiers du manager, Armand Colin, Paris, 2004, pg. 69-93
ET E TH HI IC CS S P PR RO OB BL LE EM MS S I IN N RO R OM MA AN NI IA AN N E EN NT TE ER RP PR RI IS SE ES S CO C OR RR RU UP PT TI IO ON N A AN ND D W WA AY YS S O OF F F FI IG GH HT TI IN NG G I IT T
Diaconescu Carmen
Universitatea ,,Valahia’’,Târgovi te, 0245213473, carmen_diacon@yahoo.com
Abstract:: This paper refers to the state of business ethics in nowadays’Romania and to the problems of corruption and bribery that are present in our country’s economic life.
A lot of research has been carried out in the fileld of ethics but it appears that Romanian business people have to struggle to impose ethical principles, to prevent and sanction corruption practices.
In the paper we have chosen only a few aspects of corruption and have made suggestions of how these practices can be avoided starting from making all those implied in economic life more responsible of all their decisions and their implications.
The purpose of this paper is to point out the feelings of people regarding corruption and bribery as well as the steps to be taken in order to get real results.
Ethics-set of principles of morals,rules of conduct,what is right or wrong in one’s, behaviour;
Corruption-dishonesty in business or official dealings, especially by giving or accepting a bribe;
Bankruptcy-the state of being unable to pay your debts;
Black Market-a situation of illegal trading,currencies or services.
In the ten past years due to the increasing pluralism, economic life in Romania has faced a large diversity of ethic matters.Thus corruption actions have multiplied and Romanian firms and enterprises have met a deterioration in the moral climate starting from specific causes such as lack of transparency in the legislation and low justice efficiency,the precarious economic situation being the result of heterogeneous structures of social groups.As a result,it appears the necessity of setting very well stablished strategies to ensure equality of chances,the passage to ethical organizations and real implication of all that is social responsibility in economic life.
The National Programme for Coruption Prevention was enforced on 25 October 2001 by the Romanian Government1 .This programme defined corruption as representing ,,the abusive use of public power with the purpose of getting personal advantages”69.
Through the negative effects that has created,corruption is also a threat to democracy because it can be found at all levels of institutions and state autorities.Very often corruption eludes the norms and conditions imposed and conjugated efforts of autorities and media are necessary to struggle against this phenomenon . Anti corruption actions have been concretized in punitive measures to fight corruption, but the effects have not been the expected ones both in Romania as well as in other Central and East European Countries, in the past three years.
The complexity and diverse forms of this phenomenon,together with the globalizing tendencies have led to the elaboration of adequate strategies meant to approach scientifically the corruption sources and its effects in order to build efficient tools to prevent,control and fight the phenomenon.
In Romania,fight against corruption has been pushed forward by the European Union that has drawn attention on corruption .A great number of business people have had positive reactions concerning their expectations from those who coordinate fight against corruption .
It is wellknown the fact that the average person feels much safer when he/she offers bribe or tips ,even when these are not requested.Small attentions lead to a greater care for patiens in hospitals,make office workers more sensitive,or solve problems that apparently,cannot be solved.
The general belief is that,before getting angry with those who corrupt other people,authorities should solve the real problems of the system,especially the low salaries of those paid by the state budget in key fields and positions .
Many years will have passed until the habit of offering bribe disappears or is forgotten.
69 The Romanian government decision ,Nr 1065/2001 published in Monitorul Oficial al României Nr 728,2001,p. 4
However,this habit cannot be mixed with the big corruption for which steps have to be tough and immediate .The big corruption is responsible for the major losses in society and budgets.
Greed,ambiguous laws and law disrespect are the main causes of corruption.
If greed is the main cause of corruption in our contry,it means that there is a large number of individuals who are willing not to obey the rules in order to satisfy their greed.Of course,there are individuals who breack the laws in each society .But with us,the population segment predisposed to corruption is generously represented and it is known that whenever acts of corruption are not identified by law,sanctioned by competent authorities,prevented by mechanisms such as material and moral conpensations,and where corruption can bring to substantial gains,the corruption level raises .
Corruption can be found greatly in the administrative system,in the government system and in the public institutions .There is more corruption there where there are more resources held as a monopoly (the control is held by a single actor on the market); the more unclear the decisions made by the administration,the harder to follow the process regarding the allocation of resources and this does not allow the participation of all those who are interested in the process.
In our country there are regulations regarding the authority,or the public dignity as far as conflicts of interest,incompatibilities,obligations to declare revenues and fortunes are concerned, in order to prevent those persons’ power to be used as an advantage by people or groups of people.
Moreover, there are authorities that have competencies of evaluation and control of performances or of integrity of institutions and public authorities:the National Authority for Control,as well as authorities that protect citizens against administration abuses such as the People’s Advocate70.
It is very important that the decisions concerning resources allocation be known and discussed with citizens,especially with those from the administrative sector that is in charge with applying measures and decisions,under the circumstances when the state gets a dominant positiont regarding a large part of services for citizens.
At the International Conference for Fund Donors to fight corruption, ,,Investing in the fight agains corruption”which was held between 15-16 April 2003,the American ambassador at that time in Bucharest,stated that “the corruption phenomenon is a matter connected to greed .It is a matter of the individuals who care more of themselves,their positions,their friends, than of rightfulness, justice,or in fact, of this country’’71. sectors are necessary for susch a programme to be successful.
Extended corruption determines public opinion to think that this phenomenon is something normal,as being part of every day life.It is necessary to take steps to prevent corruption and this this should replace all vulnerable points leading to corruption in order to know and control the whole phenomenon .These steps should be oriented towards institutional reforms that imply creating an efficient system to prevent corruption facts and to accomplish true reforms in justice,public administration,public finances and in our country’s economy.
Not only Romanian authorities are preoccupied with corruption, but also international organizations that have asked Romania to put an end to this evil.But when it comes to the matter of establishing the causes of corruption,specialists and even normal people think differently.Low salaries of those paid by the state budget, human greed and the tradition of the 50 years of communism are to be blamed.
When it is a matter of the bribery people pay to public and state employees opinions seem to converge.This phenomenon affects the living standard ,both directly, because part of the revenue is due to bribery,and indirectly,because it creates a bad business climate by diminishing the interest of foreign investors in doing business in our country . Romanians are accustomed to the small corruption,and when they say that
70Evenimentul Zilei,13 mai,2003,p.6
71 Evenimentul Zilei,16 aprilie,2003,p.5
corruption is one of Romania’s problems,people refer to the big corruption that they perceive as one of the causes of deteriorating their living standard.
Bribery does not differ from case to case.Yet,people with money have,many times,a high level of instruction,thus being able to access more easily communication and information means and eliminating direct interactions between the citizen and the public employee,thing that is thought to be one of the causes of corruption .The management ,as well as the whole economic and social life, become preoccupied with ethical problems,now that Romania is part of the European Union and under the conditions of globalization.Companies build sophisticated econometric models in order to be able to face a more and more agitated economic environment.It is the case of multinational firms,in whose business strategy the ethical component has several meanings and it can appear as:
− a set of moral obligations towards the parts interested or affected by the activity of this type of firms;
− social responsibility in comparison with the mother country and with the country of origin;
− attitude towards the other actors of the world economy:international government organizations, NGOS,third states,etc.
What is to be done
The firms that act internationally have to maintain their firm position connected to social or ethical matters such as:ecological preoccupations and consumer protection,to fight corruption acts taking into account the social impact of their actions.
Lately,firms have become more and more aware of the importance of ethics for their business strategies and, at least in the developed world,they have become more moral.
With the dynamics of globalization,it has become more and more obvious the fact that ethics cannot be neutral from the cultural point of view and taking ito account the world cultural diversity .
The moral development stage of the firm is reflected by managers,as well as by the way in which these ones deal with ethical dilemmas. Among the factors that influence this stage there are:
− the level of economic development of the respective country (in this case there is a direct connexion between the level of economic development and the moral development degree);
− structure and economic mechanisms (it has been proven that an integrated and stable economy is a good departure point for moral approach);
− the specificity of the cultural environment.
For example,in an individualistic culture,moral responsibility is mainly personal,as when in a collectivist culture,moral responsibility becomes a group problem.
The impact of culture on moral behaviour depends on the ethic problems perception ,on the importance paid to them by both society and firm.
In Romania the problem of the ,,actors” implied in ethics and in social responsibility of firms becomes more and more important.In any enterprise three types of ,,actors” collaborate to make decisions and to execute them.For an individual who makes decisions ,when faced with some ethics or social responsibility problems,these could be incorrectly formulated due to the fact that the decision making process has a collective character.
Bussiness people may violate frequently ethics rules and this fact can bring to a state of well being,because they follow rules that are business rules. In such a game “business is business”,friendship is ignored,and hidden intentions are above honesty.It is said that as long as the “player”obeys the rules he does nothing immoral.His immoral behaviour is manifested when the individual looks for, and finds ways of gaining undeserved advantages that affect the others .In order to obey business ethics one has to take into account the consequences of the economic activities and establish priorities .Enterprises and firms should not think of immediate profits,but choose stability and continuity,try to improve their relationships with suppliers, beneficiaries and with all those they come into direct or indirect contact.In other words,enterprises should not play only an economic role,but also be socially responsible. Nowadays we cannot put the equality mark between ethics and economics,or between morale and business.There are many successful enterprises and there are persons whose careers are built on respect of principles.And yet,business success is not the reward of an exceptional business behaviour.On the contrary,there are many business people who have succeeded in imposing themselves by force,being less scrupulous than others,but praxis proves that their methods are easier and safer.The existence of a competitive and liberal economic system does not exclude frequent abuse avoidance.
In the past 16 years,as a result of price liberalization and of the monopoly loss of many key sectors that belonged to the state,a lot of commercial activities have known changes by setting up hundreds of
and have even succeded in having an ethical behaviour in their businesses.Large firms and companies have,however,obeyed the Romanian legislation taking into account the ethical standards of the market economy .Yet,many other firms seem specialized in activities that have nothing to do with ethics are implied even in illegal actions,thus causing the Romanian state immense losses.
In the Romanian business world ethical behaviour has known a negative evolution as far as investments are concerned.The Romanian legislation has been repeatedly accused of elaborating ambiguous norms and laws that give way to behaviours that lack ethics.
For example,too many facilities and tax excemptions have been awarded to investors who were to reinvest part of their profits ,but later these decisions were not taken into account anymore,or were cancelled.Such decisions have led to the loss of interest of many investors and investments that Romania could have attracted till the year 2007.
Privatisations continue to raise problems,meaning that even now, in 2007, there are still objectives to conclude privatizations that have not been met,unlike Poland ,Hungary ,the Chzeck Republic,countries where privatization has been concluded since the year 2000,their economies being able to harmonize their good results with the requirements of the western economy.
The analysis of the economic processes in Romania should take into consideration the quality of the political factors ,as well as the mentalities and abilities that are hard to get rid of in a short period of time.The Romanian society needs a real ,,clean up”in all the spheres of the economic and social life,and this would mean,from all of us,to take responsibilities in the world of business.Ethical standards should be present as ,,codes” that have to be respected.
The middle class,that is an important factor in promoting business,should play an important part in the improvement of the ethical climate for each tyoe of business.But the actual Romanian system has only encouraged the gains that had been easily obtainded to the prejudice of long term investments.
Business people have invested in the passive elements of the economic process,encouraging thus the unproductive part, as compared to the productive one.Consumption has registered a very poor productivity
Business people have invested in the passive elements of the economic process,encouraging thus the unproductive part, as compared to the productive one.Consumption has registered a very poor productivity